Safe Routes to School Program Grants
• Each state receives a portion of the funds based on its
percentage of the national total of school-aged children in
Grades K-8, but not less than $1 million each year.
• A total of 54 projects and activities have been awarded by
the Governor affecting about 30,000 students in 55
elementary and middle schools in 24 counties.
• Received 135 applications during the past five grant cycles
requesting triple the amount of funding available. The
sixth cycle begins September 2011.
Safe Routes to School Program Grants
PURPOSES OF THE
PROGRAM
Provides funds to the
states to substantially
improve the ability of
primary and middle
school students (Grades
K-8) to walk and bicycle
to school safely;
Piedmont Elementary
Walk to School Event
Safe Routes to School Program Grants
PURPOSES OF THE PROGRAM
To enable and encourage
children, including those
with disabilities, to walk
and bicycle to school;
Martinsburg North Middle School
To make walking and bicycling to school a safer and
more appealing transportation choice, which will
encourage a healthy, active lifestyle starting at an
early age; and
Safe Routes to School Program Grants
PURPOSES OF THE PROGRAM
To facilitate the planning, development
and implementation of projects and
activities that will improve safety, and
reduce traffic, fuel consumption, and air
pollution in the vicinity (approximately
2 miles) of primary and middle schools
(Grades K-8).
Safe Routes to School Program Grants
Two types of Grants (“The Five Es”)
 Infrastructure-Related Projects
– Engineering
 Non-Infrastructure-Related Activities
–
–
–
–
Education
Encouragement
Enforcement
Evaluation
Engineering
Pleasant Valley Elementary
Nutter Fort Primary & Intermediate Schools
Operational and physical improvements to the infra-structure
surrounding existing schools that:
 Reduce speed/noise and potential conflicts with motor vehicle traffic
 Establish safer and fully accessible crossings, walkways, trails and
bikeways
Engineering
Alderson Elementary
Ranson Elementary
School zone
Along the routes & streets
Crosswalks
Vehicle speed reduction
Engineering – new sidewalks
Pineville Middle
Ripley Elementary
Paw Paw Schools
Engineering
August 2009
January 4, 2011
Secure Bicycle Facilities – R. L. Bland Middle School
Safe Routes to School Program Grants
Education – teaching children about the
broad range of transportation choices,
instructing them in important lifelong
bicycling and walking safety skills, and
launching driver safety campaigns in
the vicinity of schools
(Non-Infrastructure-Related Activities)
Who needs educational messages?
1. Children
2. Parents
3. Neighbors
Pedestrian Safety
Education for
Children
 Where and how to cross
 Choosing where to walk
 Facing traffic
 Sidewalks preferred
Bicycle safety education for children
Rules of the road
Proper helmet fit
Jefferson Elementary
Parkersburg
Health and
environment
• Health benefits of
physical activity
• Concern for the
environment
Piedmont Elementary
Bicycle Safety Class
Educate Parents and the Community
Terra Alta/East Preston
 Pedestrian and
bicyclist safety
guidelines to reinforce
with children
 Safe driving near the
school
 School drop-off and
pick-up procedures
Educate the neighbors
 Watch for/yield to
pedestrians and
cyclists
 Drive slowly
 Keep sidewalks clear
 Prune plants
Integrate walking and bicycling education into
traditional subjects using WV Dept of Education CSOs
(Policy 2510) in PE, Wellness, Health, Math, Science,
Social Studies, English/Language Arts, Art
Sources of
instructors
 Teachers
 Police or fire personnel
 Local bike club/advocate
 Public health
professional
 Local Safe Kids coalition
 League of American
Bicyclists (LAB)
instructor
Martinsburg North Middle School
Bicycle Safety Class
Encouragement
Events/activities to promote walking and bicycling:
Walk to School Month – October 5, 2011
Walking School Buses
Bicycle Trains
Mileage Clubs
Contests
Park and Walk Sites
Walking Wednesdays
Route Map Promotion
Alderson Elementary
Piedmont Elementary
St. Agnes School
Romney Elementary
Romney, September 2010
Overbrook Elementary October
Walking School Bus/Walk to School
Note changes in light over the three
week period and time differences of
one minute each week
Walking School Bus/Bicycle Trains
Safe Routes to School Program Grants
Enforcement – partnering with local law
enforcement to ensure traffic laws are
obeyed in the vicinity of schools such as
enforcement of speeds, yielding to
pedestrians in crossings, proper walking
and bicycling behaviors, and initiating
community enforcement such as adult
crossing guard programs.
(Non-Infrastructure Related Activities)
Safe Routes to School Program Grants
ENFORCEMENT
 Increases awareness of
pedestrians and bicyclists
 Improves driver behavior
 Helps children follow
traffic rules
 Increases the parent’s
perceptions of safety
Enforcement includes students, parents, school administration,
adult crossing guards, law enforcement officers
Overbrook Elementary
Performance Class 2 Safety Vests and
Walking School Bus Vests
Evaluation
Monitoring/documenting outcomes/trends through collection
of data, before and after interventions
Use Standardized Student Travel Tally & Parent Surveys
• Distance from the school is #1 factor preventing walking
to school
• 84% of our enrolled students are bussed to school
(WVDE, 2011)
• Results indicate more children are driven to school in the
a.m.
• More middle school children walk home after school
Safe Routes to School Program Grants
Who Can Apply?
 Any state, local and regional agency, including
nonprofit organizations registered with the WV
Secretary of State’s Office and having
Department of Treasury IRS Tax determination
as a Non-Profit Organization 501 (c).
 Reimbursable grant program is 100% federally
funded – No matching funds required
Safe Routes to School Program Grants
 Safe Routes to School funding is
supplemental to existing funding streams
 Funded by the Federal Highway
Administration
 Managed through the West Virginia
Division of Highways
 Grants are awarded through a statewide
competitive process
Safe Routes to School Program Grants
 Intent-to-Apply Form for Infrastructure-Related
Projects and Non-Infrastructure-Related Activities
deadline: 15 November each year
 If approved by WVDOH, then Application for
Infrastructure-Related Projects and NonInfrastructure-Related Activities deadline: 15
January each year
 Review Board meets in February
 Commissioner of Highways
 Governor announces grant recipients IAW his schedule
Safe Routes to School Program Grants
 Seventy to 90 percent of funds are for
Infrastructure-Related Projects, which may range
from a minimum total cost of $10,000 to a
maximum total cost of $100,000.
 No less than 10 percent and no more than 30
percent of funds are required to be spent on
Non-Infrastructure-Related Activities, which may
range from a minimum total cost of $10,000 to a
maximum total cost of $30,000.
Safe Routes to School Program Grants
INAPPROPRIATE USES OF SAFE ROUTES TO
SCHOOL FUNDS
 Reoccurring costs such as paying crossing guard
salaries;
 Projects that reorganize pick-up and drop-off
primarily for the convenience of drivers rather than
to improve child safety and/or walking and
bicycling access;
 Education programs that are primarily focused on
bus safety; and
 Improvements to bus stops.
Safe Routes to School Program Grants
Complements
 WV Dept of Education’s strategic Goal #3:
All students and school personnel shall develop and promote
responsibility, citizenship, strong character and healthful
living
 Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004
 WV Department of Health and Human Resources’
Healthy Schools Program
 West Virginia Action for Healthy Kids
 Cardiac Initiative
What’s good/bad with this picture?
Harpers Ferry Middle School, Bolivar
Safe Routes to School Program Grants
Rebecca A. Davison
Safe Routes to School Coordinator
West Virginia Division of Highways
Program Planning and Administration Division
Grant Administration Unit
1900 Kanawha Boulevard, East
Building 5, Room A-863
Charleston, WV 25305-0430
304-558-9600
304-558-3783 Fax
Rebecca.a.davison@wv.gov